The fundamental characteristic of magical realism is its duality, which allows the reader to experience both the character's past and present. In the novel Monkey Beach, Eden Robinson uses this literary device to address the trauma and mistreatment inflicted on the Haisla community in Canada by revealing the intimate memories of the protagonist, Lisamarie, and the consequences of this oppression. Monkey Beach illustrates how past abuse leads to another form of self-medication in the future - a never-ending vicious cycle for members of the Haisla community. Many of the characters in Monkey Beach are scarred by childhood sexual abuse and familial neglect, and resort to drug and alcohol abuse as a coping mechanism. These horrifying memories bear witness to the impact of colonization on Haisla territory which continues to haunt the indigenous community across generations. Many characters in Monkey Beach smoke frequently and this habit influences the children in the community. Lisa smoked her first cigarette “six or seven years ago” (Robinson 19). Lisa was very young when she started smoking, and it is also a popular habit among her Aboriginal friends. Among Aboriginal youth in Canada, smoking rates are twice as high as their non-Aboriginal counterparts (Reading and Allard, 1999). Most adults at Monkey Beach are smokers, and as adults smoke, this habit influences young people. If one or both parents currently smoke, their children are much more likely to intend to smoke because of the easy access to cigarettes and the indifferent outlook toward smoking (Jackson and Henrikson, 1997). This is an example of how the past - in this case, middle of paper, is the last of the unspoken and unrecorded events of misery and misfortune that the community must endure. Monkey Beach shows how the collective memories of individuals are woven together and preserved in community memory, and how these burdens of the shared past are borne together. Works Cited Silman, Janet. Enough is enough: Indigenous women are speaking out. Toronto: Women's Press, 1987. Print. Moreton-Robinson, Aileen. Talking to White Women: Indigenous Women and Feminism. Australia: University of Queensland Press, 2002. Print. Perkins, JJ and Sanson-Fisher RW. “The Prevalence of Drug Use in Urban Indigenous Communities.” Addiction 89.10 (1994): 1319-331. Internet. March 19, 2014. Kahawi, Jacobs and Gill Kathryn. “Substance abuse in an urban indigenous population.” Journal on Ethnicity and Substance Abuse. 1.1 (2001): 7-25. Internet. March 19. 2014